Dems Denied Again: Montana Republican Wins Despite Body Slam

Republican congressional candidate Greg Gianforte on Thursday survived a crisis of his own making, defeating Democrat Rob Quist in a special election in Montana. Gianforte, who sold the technology company he and his wife founded for $10 million and later ran unsuccessfully for governor, was ahead by about six percentage points in the congressional race with 99 percent of precincts reporting. He appeared to be the front-runner in a state that President Donald Trump won last year by 20 percentage points. Then he almost torpedoed his own bid with a bizarre incident involving Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs. “That’s not the person I am, and it’s not the way I’ll lead in this state.” Gianforte apologized to Jacobs by name during his victory speech. “That’s not the person I am, and it’s not the way I’ll lead in this state,” he said. An audio recording replayed all day long Thursday on cable news captured Jacobs asking Gianforte about the new Congressional